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Character Information
Jan. 16th, 2013 09:56 amCharacter Name: Riku
Canon: Kingdom Hearts
Timeline: Post Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance
Character's Age: 16
Powers, Skills, Pets and Equipment:
Canon History: Here!
Personality: Once upon a time, a little boy on a tropical island wished he could leave his home and journey to different worlds. If he had been a Disney character it would have been a cue for an 'I want' song but this particular little boy was part Square Enix too, so unfortunately his longing came tempered with a fair bit of existential angst that sat quietly until the boy hit puberty, when he evolved into something of a little jerk.
Riku at the age of 15 in the first game is very much a teenage boy. Although outwardly he projected an aura of cool, calm confidence, he also happened to have a fairly competitive streak, as seen when he challenged Sora to a race to determine the name of their raft. He also acted in the capacity of the self-appointed leader of their trio, being the eldest of the three and also the most protective. At heart, Riku is a very loyal, compassionate boy with a big heart who is almost too protective of his friends. This has the somewhat negative side effect of manifesting in extreme jealousy when he felt that he had been replaced by Goofy and Donald in Sora's affections, which in turn saw the beginning of his turn towards the Darkness. Right from his very earliest childhood, he's been a devoted friend to Sora, and then later Kairi when she crashes into life on Destiny Islands after the fall of Radiant Garden. It is because of this devotion and desire to keep the people that matter to him safe that Riku wants to leave the islands and find the power and strength to accomplish this goal. Although he may have got lost along the way, it is a goal that is ultimately able to achieve, though at a great personal cost as he temporarily lost his way to the path of Darkness. When he meets Terra on Destiny Islands as a very small boy, he is told that taking ownership of a Keyblade will give him the strength to protect what matters to him, and so when he- the self sworn protector- is seemingly passed over in receiving this power in favour of Sora, his jealousy and perhaps lack of understanding as to why he had not been granted it, leads to him pursuing other, less noble means to attain the power to save Kairi and their world. Unfortunately, like Terra before him, this noble desire plays right into Maleficent's (and Team Dark's) hands.
Riku's coming-of-age arc begins in earnest in Chain of Memories, where he comes to realise that the Darkness that invaded his heart cannot be evicted so easily, or even truly banished. It is without doubt his greatest source of conflict, as he carries with him an almost overwhelming sense of guilt for his behaviour and actions and his fall from grace in the first game. For over a year he was so appalled and disgusted with himself and that he performed whatever feats he deemed necessary to try and atone for his past, even going so far as to let the Darkness fully consume him and change his form in order to defeat Roxas and thereby help Sora. He also demonstrates a sense of compassion towards Xion, Sora's Replica, who would need to be destroyed in order for Sora to wake up from his memory restoring sleep, as her very existence jeopardised that process due to her having absorbed his most important memories of Kairi. Instead of treating her as something less than human as many of the Organization had, he allows her to come to her own decision in her own time instead of forcing her immediately to choose an outcome. This shows that he is capable of great kindness and has faith in the good nature of others. He later states in Kingdom Hearts II that he believes Roxas would have come to Sora in his own time had he, DiZ and Naminé not interfered by creating the digital Twilight Town.
Before the destruction of Destiny Islands in Kingdom Hearts, Riku was determined to the point of obsession that he and his best friends Sora and Kairi would find a way off their island and go to explore different worlds together. As a child he spoke of a man who had left the islands (Master Xehanort as it turned out), and then encountered not one but two strangers from the outside world in the forms of Aqua and Terra; since this time, his curiosity and the almost desperate need to get out and see the world that stemmed from it became a driving force behind his actions. This shows that when Riku has his eye on a goal he can be single-minded and dogged in its pursuit, and not necessarily always in a good way; Kairi notes that his attitude has actually begun to scare her at the beginning of the first game. (This frightening change might also have been wrought by the approaching Darkness and Riku's having seen Destiny Islands' Keyhole.)
One of the most impressive things about Riku is his resilience and sense of self awareness. He no longer believes himself to be better or more capable than his younger best friend; he very much sees them as equals and in many ways it can be argued that he rates Sora's abilities higher than his own. His motivations for taking the Mark of Mastery exam stem from his own desire to see whether he is worthy of the Keyblade rather than to chase after the rank of Master as a bragging right as his younger self might have done. Even then, after the test has begun, his subconscious senses something is amiss when he spies the cloaked form of Master Xehanort beginning to interfere with their exam and he dives into Sora's dreams, becoming a type of Dream Eater in the process, in order to protect him, even though this act technically prevented him from fulfilling the criteria of his test. This shows that he has developed into a selfless character, more concerned with the welfare of his precious friends than his own glory. It is a far cry from the anti-villain/corrupted rival he appeared as in his debut. Riku has spent so long battling the darkness that once overcame his heart that, as of Kingdom Hearts 3D, he has developed his own defences against it to the extent that it is no longer able to control or corrupt him; he is able to accept and conquer it and use it as a force for good rather than letting it conquer him.
By the end of 3D, Riku has matured to become a much calmer (unless he has a Keyblade in his hand and someone is threatening one of his friends) person than he was earlier in the series. As a small child he demonstrates that he's very precocious, confusing even Sora with his thinking sometimes (though this has no negative effect on Sora believing him!), and it seems that this quality has never left him. He is thoughtful and definitely the brains of the outfit compared to Sora, who is certainly not stupid but a lot more prone to acting first and thinking second. Riku has come to realise the important things in his life are worth fighting for and has learned to trust not only his friends but also himself where he did not in the past. He has proven his worth not only to his allies but also to himself, something that he was struggling with accepting at the beginning of the game as he doubted his suitability to even wield a Keyblade considering his past trespasses. Now that he has been made a Keyblade Master- the only one of the two candidates to succeed- it seems that he is more than qualified.
Canon: Kingdom Hearts
Timeline: Post Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance
Character's Age: 16
Powers, Skills, Pets and Equipment:
- Riku is a Keyblade Master, which means that he has the ability to travel between different worlds and act to protect the Keyholes to these worlds from invasion from hostile outsiders, such as the Heartless.
- Riku's main weapon of choice is his Keyblade Way To The Dawn. His ability to wield it was bequeathed to him by Terra while he was still a child on Destiny Islands, though it did not fully manifest in its current form until the end of Kingdom Hearts II. Prior to that it took the form of a sword with a batwing-like blade by the name of Soul Eater. Kingdom Hearts 3D reveals that he is able to call up both incarnations of his Keyblade at will. As the name suggests, the Keyblade is a melee weapon that is literally key shaped. In combat it can serve as both a bludgeoning and cutting weapon (depending on which form the Keyblade has taken, as its shape can be changed depending upon whic Keychain it has equipped), and it also has the unique ability to free the captive hearts taken by the series' most prevalent enemies, the Heartless. This is what makes the possession of it such an attractive prospect to Organization XIII, to whom having a Keyblade wielder in their midst to help them steal hearts and build Kingdom Hearts is so crucial that they even go as far as to create a Replica Keyblade wielder to use as a back-up plan should anything happen to their original. In addition to its capacities as a weapon and a freer of captive hearts, the Keyblade also functions, oddly enough, as a key. It is able to unlock a wide range of things from the mundane locked door, to the more extraordinary things such as hearts and the doorways belonging to different worlds.
- Magic: Riku is able to use elemental magic such as fire, ice, air and electrical based spells, as well as healing magic. He is also able to use magic that can slow time and defend against attacks too.
- Ability to detect Darkness and Light; he is able to sense both forces' presence within people and, in the case of Darkness, is able to actually smell it.
- As of Kingdom Hearts 3D, it has emerged that Riku has the ability to become a Dream Eater, and is able to merge with other Dream Eaters and gain new abilities when acting as one. In this form he is able to enter the dreams of others using his Keyblade and fight off the influence of Nightmares- the corrupted form of the Dream Eaters.
- For a comprehensive list of Riku's abilities, please see here.
Canon History: Here!
Personality: Once upon a time, a little boy on a tropical island wished he could leave his home and journey to different worlds. If he had been a Disney character it would have been a cue for an 'I want' song but this particular little boy was part Square Enix too, so unfortunately his longing came tempered with a fair bit of existential angst that sat quietly until the boy hit puberty, when he evolved into something of a little jerk.
Riku at the age of 15 in the first game is very much a teenage boy. Although outwardly he projected an aura of cool, calm confidence, he also happened to have a fairly competitive streak, as seen when he challenged Sora to a race to determine the name of their raft. He also acted in the capacity of the self-appointed leader of their trio, being the eldest of the three and also the most protective. At heart, Riku is a very loyal, compassionate boy with a big heart who is almost too protective of his friends. This has the somewhat negative side effect of manifesting in extreme jealousy when he felt that he had been replaced by Goofy and Donald in Sora's affections, which in turn saw the beginning of his turn towards the Darkness. Right from his very earliest childhood, he's been a devoted friend to Sora, and then later Kairi when she crashes into life on Destiny Islands after the fall of Radiant Garden. It is because of this devotion and desire to keep the people that matter to him safe that Riku wants to leave the islands and find the power and strength to accomplish this goal. Although he may have got lost along the way, it is a goal that is ultimately able to achieve, though at a great personal cost as he temporarily lost his way to the path of Darkness. When he meets Terra on Destiny Islands as a very small boy, he is told that taking ownership of a Keyblade will give him the strength to protect what matters to him, and so when he- the self sworn protector- is seemingly passed over in receiving this power in favour of Sora, his jealousy and perhaps lack of understanding as to why he had not been granted it, leads to him pursuing other, less noble means to attain the power to save Kairi and their world. Unfortunately, like Terra before him, this noble desire plays right into Maleficent's (and Team Dark's) hands.
Riku's coming-of-age arc begins in earnest in Chain of Memories, where he comes to realise that the Darkness that invaded his heart cannot be evicted so easily, or even truly banished. It is without doubt his greatest source of conflict, as he carries with him an almost overwhelming sense of guilt for his behaviour and actions and his fall from grace in the first game. For over a year he was so appalled and disgusted with himself and that he performed whatever feats he deemed necessary to try and atone for his past, even going so far as to let the Darkness fully consume him and change his form in order to defeat Roxas and thereby help Sora. He also demonstrates a sense of compassion towards Xion, Sora's Replica, who would need to be destroyed in order for Sora to wake up from his memory restoring sleep, as her very existence jeopardised that process due to her having absorbed his most important memories of Kairi. Instead of treating her as something less than human as many of the Organization had, he allows her to come to her own decision in her own time instead of forcing her immediately to choose an outcome. This shows that he is capable of great kindness and has faith in the good nature of others. He later states in Kingdom Hearts II that he believes Roxas would have come to Sora in his own time had he, DiZ and Naminé not interfered by creating the digital Twilight Town.
Before the destruction of Destiny Islands in Kingdom Hearts, Riku was determined to the point of obsession that he and his best friends Sora and Kairi would find a way off their island and go to explore different worlds together. As a child he spoke of a man who had left the islands (Master Xehanort as it turned out), and then encountered not one but two strangers from the outside world in the forms of Aqua and Terra; since this time, his curiosity and the almost desperate need to get out and see the world that stemmed from it became a driving force behind his actions. This shows that when Riku has his eye on a goal he can be single-minded and dogged in its pursuit, and not necessarily always in a good way; Kairi notes that his attitude has actually begun to scare her at the beginning of the first game. (This frightening change might also have been wrought by the approaching Darkness and Riku's having seen Destiny Islands' Keyhole.)
One of the most impressive things about Riku is his resilience and sense of self awareness. He no longer believes himself to be better or more capable than his younger best friend; he very much sees them as equals and in many ways it can be argued that he rates Sora's abilities higher than his own. His motivations for taking the Mark of Mastery exam stem from his own desire to see whether he is worthy of the Keyblade rather than to chase after the rank of Master as a bragging right as his younger self might have done. Even then, after the test has begun, his subconscious senses something is amiss when he spies the cloaked form of Master Xehanort beginning to interfere with their exam and he dives into Sora's dreams, becoming a type of Dream Eater in the process, in order to protect him, even though this act technically prevented him from fulfilling the criteria of his test. This shows that he has developed into a selfless character, more concerned with the welfare of his precious friends than his own glory. It is a far cry from the anti-villain/corrupted rival he appeared as in his debut. Riku has spent so long battling the darkness that once overcame his heart that, as of Kingdom Hearts 3D, he has developed his own defences against it to the extent that it is no longer able to control or corrupt him; he is able to accept and conquer it and use it as a force for good rather than letting it conquer him.
By the end of 3D, Riku has matured to become a much calmer (unless he has a Keyblade in his hand and someone is threatening one of his friends) person than he was earlier in the series. As a small child he demonstrates that he's very precocious, confusing even Sora with his thinking sometimes (though this has no negative effect on Sora believing him!), and it seems that this quality has never left him. He is thoughtful and definitely the brains of the outfit compared to Sora, who is certainly not stupid but a lot more prone to acting first and thinking second. Riku has come to realise the important things in his life are worth fighting for and has learned to trust not only his friends but also himself where he did not in the past. He has proven his worth not only to his allies but also to himself, something that he was struggling with accepting at the beginning of the game as he doubted his suitability to even wield a Keyblade considering his past trespasses. Now that he has been made a Keyblade Master- the only one of the two candidates to succeed- it seems that he is more than qualified.
